Friday, March 19, 2010

J threatened to put a hit out on the Heroes episodes that I have piled up on my DVR. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. We have episodes dated back to November. J doesn't like to watch them since the story has taken a dive.

J: You can watch Heroes. Or whatever will take the most stuff off the DVR

Me: I will only watch it when you aren't around!

J: No. Watch it so it'll get off the DVR

Me: /guffaw

J: Seriously. Or they may ended up missing. *cough*

Me: HAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA. Are you threatening to put a hit out on my Heroes episodes?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

True to form, I have been taking forever to write about how awesome my birthday weekend was. It was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend. Of course, J pampered me the whole weekend which was awesome. Saturday my whole family (minus Deidre of course) and Adrienne and Cole went out to Macaroni Grill for lunch. My family immediately took to Adrienne and Cole and why wouldn’t they? They are amazing people who I hope to see a lot more of soon. I know that they are extremely busy people but it’s nice to see them every once in a while.

Lobster ravioli was great, along with my massive chocolate cake. And I was sung Happy Birthday Italian Opera Style. Very classy and I wish I had used my camera to take a video! Gotta love that hindsight. I took some pics so I will put a couple on flickr. I totally wasn’t expecting gifts at all and I was overwhelmed when I got such great ones. Every time I’m around my family and friends, I realize how lucky I am to have them. Some people don’t have people that are close to them and I have so many loving people. I really can’t complain.

Had an amazing D&D session on Saturday night. Spending time with my crew on Skype was pretty cool and I’m glad it’s coming together pretty well. I hope that we play for a long, long time. It’s kind of a lot of people for a game but we make it work and we don’t spend too much time on doing moves so it moves along pretty well. All the RP stuff is making me want to start on my idea for a story.

J and I watched the Time Traveler’s Wife. Or I watched and I woke him up intermittently. But he kept up with the story amazingly well. He’s awesome like that.

So I’m 31. There are a lot of great things that happened in my 30th year and I’m ready for the 31st. I sense good things coming this year!

So I received my copy of Final Fantasy XIII at Walmart at Midnight Tuesday. Of course having just watched Hurt Locker, I was exhausted and decided to delve into it the next day after work. I was very excited to play as the last single player Final Fantasy game I played was X as I had missed out on XII regrettably.

After dinner, I fired up the game and was immediately engrossed in gorgeous animation. The cut scenes were gorgeous and the voice work was exemplary. Even at first impression, it reminded me of Final Fantasy VIII. The opening scene was a train for both games. Plus the futuristic similarities are definitely there.

It throws you into the combat tutorial fairly quickly so it's not as much waiting around and definitely not as much reading as the characters actually speak! :) One thing I found surprising is that you only control the party leader. This might change as I go further through the game but it was odd having the other party members act of their own accord. Even going as far as them using a potion (And a potion heals your entire party as well).

The combat system is interesting, there is an added feature that isn't too hard to understand and allows big crits on the bad guys. Because who doesn't like big crits? The chracters are what I'm used to seeing in a Final Fantasy Game. Some have weird hair or big hair and the style is definitely consistent. You go back and forth between three groups of people so that helps round the story out a bit.

So far, I am only three hours in and it takes me a long time to finish a Final Fantasy game because I explore EVERYTHING. But I am liking it so far.

The first look at the new music was through their music video Stylo. I was soooo hooked! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the video. Some people might not like the foray out of 2D characters but I loved the video. Plus with Bruce Willis, how can you go wrong? The track features Mos Def and the legendary Bobby Womack. The video has a definite story and I'm interesting to hear what happens before and after the video takes place.

The very first track of the album featured Snoop Dogg so that immediately drew me in. I'm very much a child of the 90s and anything with Snoop makes me smile. That man's voice is smooth!

It rolls into the second track with Asian and Jamaican influences. The whole album continues on into unexpected tracks that would make me smile with the originality of it all. Gorillaz does not disappoint at all as usual and I'm extremely satisfied with the content. They give you quality as well as quantity with sixteen very different tracks.

They made a good choice coming out with Stylo first. It is an upbeat but still laid back song that people can get into and features well known artists.

Definitely a good album to download or pick up at your local music store. Really? You all still have a local music store? Crazy talk! ;)

Broken Bells: Broken Roads

I have always loved Danger Mouse since he was in Gnarls Barkley and his technological haunting beats follow him into his collaboration with James Mercer. I had never heard of Mercer so I went into this album with a clean opinion. I like it a lot.

The video is definitely interesting. The music is definitely that which I can listen to over and over. I find myself drawn to the song Mongrel Heart. The haunting background vocals are winning me over.

If you like Gnarls Barkley, definitely check this out. It will remind you of a lot even though it's less soul and more guitarist rock. I love the slight Asian influences I hear now and again.

So I say it's an album that will have a deserved spot on my rotation list.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

So as my husband knows, I love Google. I mean anytime I have the slightest inkling that I want to know something more about a topic, I instantly whip out my iPhone (or ask him to do it if I'm driving because it usually happens when I'm driving).

I think I'm still amazed at the instant knowledge transfer that occurs. There's so much information on the internet that I couldn't possibly begin to absorb but it's just awesome that it's there if I need it. This instant information has become so ingrained in my life that I think I would probably have withdrawal if it was ever taken away! That's not a good feeling but it's something I could live with. There are people everyday that don't have internet but I've had it consistently for over 10 years.

I remember when I first started using the internet on a regular basis. It was my freshmen year of college and the university had installed a brand new computer lab in the basement of the student complex. It was open 24 hours. So yea, that was my first look into it and where I can pinpoint my first geekdom/nerdery beginning. Ah...slow internet and obscure chat rooms. Back when chat rooms weren't just men on the prowl for lonely women. And vice versa.

Thanks, Google and similar search engines, for the instant information and entertainment you've provided over the years.